Aaron Knotts joined the Wildcats in December of 2025 and serves as the General Manager of the Arizona football program. Knotts oversees the daily operations of the personnel department, focusing on items such as roster construction and salary cap management. He also acts as the NFL liaison for the program.
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Knotts comes to Tucson after spending 12 seasons at the University of Washington in a variety of roles from 2014-2025, most notably as Associate Athletic Director/Chief of Staff in 2024. In his time at UW, Knotts was a part of five 10+ win seasons, 4 New Year’s Six games, 3 PAC-12 titles, 2 CFP semi-final appearances, and 1 national championship appearance.
During his time at UW, Knotts spent seven years as the football program's Chief of Staff and worked with four different head coaches in that capacity (Petersen, Lake, DeBoer, and Fisch). In 2024, he was also on an internal, three-person search committee, appointed by then Athletic Director Troy Dannen, that resulted in the hiring of Head Coach Jedd Fisch. Prior to his roles in operations and administration, Knotts spent four years at UW working in recruiting and personnel, two of which leading the department as Director of Player Personnel. He also served as the NFL liaison for eight seasons there.
Knotts spent the spring of 2014 as the Tight Ends Coach at Division III Centre College (Ky.) before joining Petersen’s staff at UW in the fall. In 2013 he was a recruiting intern for the University of Louisville, which went 12-1 under the direction of Charlie Strong.
After earning his degree in 2012 from Miami University (Ohio), he returned to his alma mater, St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Ky., as Defensive Backs Coach in 2012. As a fullback at St. Xavier, Knotts ran for ten touchdowns in his senior year as the Tigers finished 14-1, falling just short in overtime of the 2007 4-A state championship game.
At Miami University, Knotts graduated cum laude in 2012 with a major in business finance and a minor in coaching.
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